The federal government calls childcare affordable when it costs no more than 7% of a family’s income. For a baby in a daycare center, no state comes close. Pick your state, your child’s age and the type of care to see the typical price and what share of a typical paycheck it eats.
Childcare cost by state
Every state, ranked by share of income
Coral bars are above 7% of the state’s median household income, the federal benchmark for affordable care. Colorado, DC, Indiana and New Mexico did not report prices.
What the numbers show
- Infant care at a center costs more than 7% of the median household income in all 47 states that report prices. In 27 of them it takes more than 15%.
- Least affordable: New York, where center care for a baby runs about $20,459 a year, or 25.1% of the state’s median household income. California (22.3%), Massachusetts (21.8%), Hawaii (21.8%) and Connecticut (20.8%) follow.
- Most affordable: Mississippi at $4,862 a year, or 8.8% of income, then South Dakota (9.2%) and Kansas (10.2%).
- Most expensive in dollars: Massachusetts, at about $23,191 a year for infant center care.
- In the typical state, infant center care costs about $12,737 a year, or 15.6% of household income. Add a preschooler at a center and the two together take about 28% of a typical household’s income.
- Home-based daycare is cheaper almost everywhere, but it still costs more than 7% of median income in every reporting state except South Dakota, where it sits right at 7%.
Where the data comes from
- Prices are from the U.S. Department of Labor’s National Database of Childcare Prices, the most complete government source on what daycare costs. They are median yearly prices for one child at full market rate, from each state’s market rate survey, which the Department of Labor adjusted to 2023 dollars using the childcare price index.
- Income is each state’s 2023 median household income from the Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey, via FRED. It covers all households, not only families with young kids, so treat the shares as a guide.
- The 7% benchmark comes from the federal Child Care and Development Fund, whose 2024 rule caps what families in the program pay at 7% of their income.
- Colorado, the District of Columbia, Indiana and New Mexico did not report prices for this release, so they are left out. Prices vary a lot between counties, especially between cities and rural areas in the same state.
Ways to bring the cost down
- Check the Child and Dependent Care Credit. If your employer offers a dependent care FSA, it lets you pay for daycare with pre-tax money.
- Look up your state’s subsidy program and licensed providers at Childcare.gov.
- Price out home-based daycare as well as centers. In most states it is noticeably cheaper for babies and toddlers.
- Childcare is only one part of the bill. Our cost of raising a child calculator shows the full yearly cost for families like yours.
Free to use. If you write about childcare costs, please credit and link to Parenting Pantry so your readers can look up their own state.